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New Year's Day 2012: Pray - Study - Act
Make Outreach to Students, Young Adults a Priority in 2012
In This Issue
PRAY: Litany of Mary of Nazareth
STUDY: World Day of Peace Message
ACT: Outreach to students, young adults in 2012
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December 29, 2011
Greetings of peace!  

For his World Day of Peace message this year, Pope Benedict XVI has taken the theme "Educating Young People in Justice and Peace." One of Pax Christi USA's most dedicated leaders, Bob Cooke of Pax Christi Metro D.C.-Baltimore, wrote to me a few weeks ago when the Pope's message for World Peace Day was first released. He rightly recognized that its topic could serve as a year-long call to long-time Pax Christi members, local groups, and regions to resolve to reach out to students and young adults during 2012. We think this is an excellent idea, knowing that nothing could be more important than raising up a new generation of young people who will proclaim the gospel of peace and work for justice in our world. In this PSA, you'll find a prayer for New Year's Day (the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God), as well as a link to the Pope's World Peace Day message and suggestions for outreach to students and young adults in the coming year. 
Students at 2009 Conference
Students & young adults at PCUSA conference in 2009.
On New Year's Day, we'll also be posting a New Year's reflection, so check out the website. You can also read Diane Lopez Hughes' reflection for New Year's Day from her wonderful reflection booklet, That You Might Meet Us Doing Right: Reflections for Advent 2011, in the PDF of the December newsletter by clicking here (it's on page 7). 
 
Hope you have a blessed, peaceful new year!

 

In peace,

Johnny Zokovitch
Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA
 PRAY: Litany of Mary of Nazareth

Glory to you, God our Creator ...

Breathe into us new life, new meaning.

Glory to you, God our Savior ...

Lead us in the way of peace and justice.

Glory to you, healing Spirit ...

Transform us to empower others.

 

Mary, wellspring of peace ... Be our guide.

Model of strength...

Model of gentleness...  

Model of trust...

Model of courage...

Model of patience...

Model of risk...

Model of openness...

Model of perseverance...

 

Mother of the liberator ... Pray for us.

Mother of the homeless...

Mother of the dying...

Mother of the nonviolent...

Mother of widowed mothers...

Mother of unwed mothers...

Mother of a political prisoner...

Mother of the condemned...

Mother of the executed criminal...

 

Oppressed woman ... Lead us to life.

Liberator of the oppressed...

Marginalized woman...

Comforter of the afflicted...

Cause of our joy...

Sign of contradiction...

Breaker of bondage...

Political refugee...

Seeker of sanctuary...

First disciple...

Sharer in Christ's passion...

Seeker of God's will...

Witness to Christ's resurrection...

 

Woman of mercy ... Empower us.

Woman of faith...

Woman of contemplation...

Woman of vision...

Woman of wisdom and understanding...

Woman of grace and truth...

Woman, pregnant with hope...

Woman, centered in God...

 

Mary, Queen of Peace, we entrust our lives to you. Shelter us from war, hatred and oppression. Teach us to live in peace, to educate ourselves for peace. Inspire us to act justly, to revere all God has made. Root peace firmly in our hearts and in our world. Amen.

STUDY: World Day of Peace Message

from Pope Benedict XVI

 

Educating Young People in Justice and Peace

 

1. The beginning of a new year, God's gift to humanity, prompts me to extend to all, with great confidence and affection, my heartfelt good wishes that this time now before us may be marked concretely by justice and peace.

 

With what attitude should we look to the New Year? We find a very beautiful image in Psalm 130. The Psalmist says that people of faith wait for the Lord "more than those who watch for the morning" (v. 6); they wait for him with firm hope because they know that he will bring light, mercy, salvation. This waiting was born of the experience of the Chosen People, who realized that God taught them to look at the world in its truth and not to be overwhelmed by tribulation. I invite you to look to 2012 with this attitude of confident trust. It is true that the year now ending has been marked by a rising sense of frustration at the crisis looming over society, the world of labour and the economy, a crisis whose roots are primarily cultural and anthropological. It seems as if a shadow has fallen over our time, preventing us from clearly seeing the light of day.

 

In this shadow, however, human hearts continue to wait for the dawn of which the Psalmist speaks. Because this expectation is particularly powerful and evident in young people, my thoughts turn to them and to the contribution which they can and must make to society. I would like therefore to devote this message for the XLV World Day of Peace to the theme of education: "Educating Young People in Justice and Peace", in the conviction that the young, with their enthusiasm and idealism, can offer new hope to the world.

 
ACT: Outreach to students,
young adults in 2012

Take the Pope's message for World Peace Day, "Educating Young People in Justice and Peace," and make a year-long commitment--whether as an individual or for your local group--to reach out to students and young adults during 2012. To that end, here are a few suggestions:

 

1) Give a young person you know (family member, friend, student, church member) a gift membership to Pax Christi USA and introduce them to the work of the Catholic peace movement. Click here to see our different levels of membership, including youth memberships.

 

2) Introduce a young person you know to Christian nonviolence through one of our resources in the Pax Christi Store, including:

3) Ring in the New Year by connecting with the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers during the Global Days of Listening conference call on December 31-January 1. Invite your daughter or son, grandson or granddaughter, niece or nephew, to join you on the call. Click here for more information.

4) If you're an educator or youth minister, reach out to a student(s) who might be interested in starting a Pax Christi chapter at your high school or college or parish. We'll provide you with a free organizing toolkit that includes over 12 resources for getting a group started. Email Johnny at johnnypcusa@yahoo.com to request a toolkit. Great resources for a new Pax Christi high school or college chapter would also include several offerings from our partners at JustFaith Ministries. Pax Christi members can lead or facilitate these offerings at their schools, in their parishes, etc.: 
5) Promote Pax Christi USA's internship program to recent college graduates and young adults looking for an opportunity to put their faith into practice by working for justice and peace. Click here to find out more about our internship program.